The Gundlingen is a new type sword from Neil Burridge, can be purchased
at his site:
http://www.templeresearch.eclipse.co.uk/bronze/swords_for_sale.htmThe Gundlingen is one of the last swords made from bronze during the
early iron age, and also one of the first to be made
from iron. In my opinion it's also one of the most beautiful bronze
swords.

The blade

Original

Found: Thames, UKAge: Hallstatt period, early iron age

This is a British variation of the Gundlingen type sword, which still
has some characteristics of the Ewart Park type. The Gundlingen was originally
develope on the main land. In the UK, the Ewart Park swords were slowly
becoming more like the Gundlingen type swords, until they were virtually
identical.

The blade before finishing

Here you can see the blade as I received it.

Finished blade

The blade is now fully finished.

The hilt

The hilt parts are made from yew wood. From the Gundlingen
type swords, very few hilt remains have been preserved. In Hallstatt, Austria,
a sword was found of which the pommel was originally covered with gold
foil. From the shape of the gold, the pommel had a hat shape as the reconstructed
pommel here. Of the contemporary Mindelheim swords, a lot more hilts have
been preserved. These all have the same hat shaped pommel. The hilts of
these swords have been used to reconstruct the rest of the hilt.

Here are the finished hilt parts. The wood is treated with
lineoil.

The completed sword

The sword is now fully finished. The hilt plates have been
riveted on using bronze rivets. The pommel is attached using hideglue.